Which to use
“filed” and “folded” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,058
- “filed” frequency rank
- #9,899
- “folded” frequency rank
- 12957
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | filed | folded |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of file | simple past and past participle of fold |
Where the eye mixes filed and folded
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between filed and folded
A purely visual mix-up. filed (/faɪld/) and folded (/ˈfoʊldɪd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
filed is recorded at frequency rank #3,058, classified as averb, pronounced /faɪld/. folded is at rank #9,899, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfoʊldɪd/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 12957, this pair ranks #478,541 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of filed vs folded
Shared letters: defl. Private to "filed": i. Private to "folded": o.
"filed" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "folded" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "filed" and "folded" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "filed" or "folded" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "filed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "folded" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #478,541 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "filed" and "folded" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fie vs filed". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #478,541 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.